For many years Linde Gas has been delivering a dry-ice cleaning technology that is safe for the environment. The method involves firing dry ice pellets the size of rice grains at the contaminated surfaces. The pellets penetrate the layer of dirt, assume a gaseous state, and – as they expand – remove any impurities from the surface. The cooling effect – dry ice is nothing more than carbon dioxide cooled down to minus 78.5 degrees Celsius – makes the dirt brittle and easy to remove. As a surface cleaner, dry ice is far more environment-friendly than water because it does not attack the surfaces, and therefore does not expel any toxins they may contain.

In order to satisfy the rising demand for dry ice in cleaning applications, Linde Gas operates the world’s largest dry ice production facility at its German Ludwigshafen plant. This site has a daily capacity of 150 metric tons. Linde also runs numerous other dry ice production plants, while Linde Gas offers the equipment required for the cleaning process.

After the oil tanker “Prestige” sank off the Spanish coast in 2002, Linde helped clean the oil from the beaches using dry ice.